The Force is strong with this one…
Often times here on this site, whether through the blog or the podcast, I have made remarks concerning my feelings toward the Star Wars prequels, the franchise in general, and its future. In particular, I know I have bashed Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It isn’t even the worst of the prequels, the opposite in fact, but it had the most important job of those three movies: to show the fall of Anakin Skywalker and the rise of Darth Vader. I feel that it failed to capitalize on what could, and should, have been one of the most powerful events in the franchise, on par with Anakin’s redemption at the end of Episode VI, or Luke finding out that Vader is his father.
So why do I feel so strongly about it? Why complain at all? After all, I did make some remarks in a previous article about how so often in geekdom, nothing is ever good enough, that fault can be found in every little nitpicky detail. I know there are some fans in both the Trek and Wars geekosystems who feel some sense of entitlement, as though the classic iterations of both franchises are “their” versions, and anything that comes after it is automatically inferior. I can understand that sentiment, especially when I watch Star Wars.
Recently, I once again sat down and watched the original Star Wars trilogy, the theatrical cuts, all in one sitting. I was reminded acutely of how much I love these movies, and how they capture something special that is difficult to describe to someone who hasn’t experienced it for themselves. The Empire Strikes Back in particular is a powerhouse, arguably the greatest sequel ever crafted in film history. When it was all said and done, and I watched Luke send his father back to the Force in flames with goosebumps on my arms, I realized, with more clarity, why I take such issue with the direction the franchise took after Return of the Jedi.
It’s because I love Star Wars. I feel that the story crafted throughout the original trilogy is powerful and can touch anyone, across generations and across cultures. It’s a tale of heroism and redemption, about decency overcoming corruption, just a few of the things that the “real” world could use more of. But as much as that, my time spent as a writer has lent insight into why the prequels just rubbed me the wrong way at nearly every turn. Beyond just the blatant abuse of CGI, the wooden acting choices, and wasted opportunities, it is the writing that keeps the “new” Star Wars from meeting the bar set by the “old.”
So, you’re writing a story. You start at part IV, because you think that’s the best point from which to launch your story for a brand new, untested audience. Then you write parts V and VI. Somewhere along the way you need to have had at least the basic ideas of I through III cobbled together. Seems simple and logical enough.
You’re the guy or gal writing this tale. You go back to make I through III a reality just like you always wanted to. Somewhere along the way, you got it in your head that you want to do some things in I through III that you hadn’t though of back when you brought IV through VI to life. Okay, sure, that can happen, especially if you wait a couple decades. The problem: parts IV, V, and VI are established stories. To make a cohesive story that follows a linear, chronological path, you must establish consistency from chapter to chapter; if there is an inconsistency, there should be a reasonable explanation as to why. Say I am writing a story, and I decide that chapter 11 out of 20 needs to be heavily edited… maybe a critical story detail changes! That means that it’s my job as a storyteller to make sure everything following chapter 11 fits with the changes. Otherwise, the cohesion of the story is lost. The suspension of disbelief, and the power of your storytelling is compromised.
This is what happened to Star Wars. Somehow, George Lucas got it in his head that there were things in his world, not seen in the original trilogy, that he wanted to bring to life. He decided that certain details of his story were going to be different. The problem: he was going back in time. When you write a prequel, every detail matters. It must line up with the story that takes place after it or you’ve totally ruined the flow of your tale.
I’ll provide an excellent example: In Return of the Jedi, Luke asks Leia about her mother, her real mother, who is of course Luke’s as well. “She died when I was very young,” Leia says. No kidding. According to George Lucas in Revenge of the Sith, Leia was about two minutes old at most when Padme died. Little Luke was there too, yet he has no memory or impression of Padme, while Leia has quite a memorable recollection.
Details, George, details! Did you read your own scripts?
What seems to rankle fans more, and I am not exempt from this, is Lucas tampering with his original trilogy. He claims that he is trying to bring it more “in line” with his original vision for Star Wars, and to make those films seem more consistent with the prequels.
That’s… not how it works. You can only make so many changes to something that already exists before you’ve effectively butchered it. For me, the “Special Editions” of A New Hope and Return of the Jedi are hard to watch because of Lucas’s tampering. Did we really need an extra musical number in Jabba’s Palace with more goofy CGI aliens? No. And of course, Greedo never shot, period. To be fair, this issue was covered far more eloquently in the documentary, The People Vs. George Lucas.
The prequels of Star Wars rub me the wrong way and make me long for the original theatrical trilogy ultimately because, yes, I love those first three movies, but also because George Lucas failed in his job as a storyteller. When you have existing content, you can only change it so much. When you write something that is meant to expand on and explain that which already exists, the onus is on you to make it fit with what already is established. Trying to force an already existing story to flex and compromise for new content, content that, logically, would be far easier to make fit with what came before, it makes no sense.
George, Episodes IV, V, and VI should have dictated the way you handled I, II, and III. Instead, you made The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith your own personal playgrounds for strange, abundant abuses of CGI, overblown political drama (which drew a relevant parallel to our world but took way too long to get there), and Jar Jar, the worst desecration to storytelling in modern film. You spent years and tons of money trying to force your original creation, beloved the world over, to fit in with something that should have done justice to the tale of Anakin Skywalker, the rise of the Sith and the Galactic Empire, as well as the destruction of the Jedi Order, and instead, gave us stupid, painfully kid-friendly droids, a super creepy forced love story, and a bunch of hur-dur Jedi being played for chumps by a Sith Lord who is operating under their very noses.
Oh well. I still love the original trilogy. If it makes me a stick in the mud, so be it.
And despite my personal misgivings with where George took the franchise, I’m still cautiously optimistic for Episode VII. Let’s hope that the Force will be with us come December 2015.
FIN
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